SHAPE America TOY Website Questionnaire Name: Tracy Sharlow School Name: St Lawrence Lewis BOCES School Address: 40 West St, Canton, NY 13616 tsharlow@sllboces.org Questions Describe one or two of the newest and/or most innovative activities that you do with your students in physical education? (i.e. instructional units, assessment strategies/techniques, development of personal/social skills, parent/family involvement, special events, etc) I started a dance club for my students with autism last year. A group of students were selected who met specific criteria in order to participate. The students were doing so well that we decided to host a dance recital for the families and staff as a culminating event. We were very worried about what the influence of an audience might bring so we had a practice recital for other special education classes and staff prior to the final recital.. The outcomes of starting this program were amazing. We took students from many different classrooms and combined them together to make this dance club. This was a first for our very structured ABA program The students would come to class and know that we will only be doing dance even though we are in the APE gym so it was great as far as having the individual students focus and set goals. It was really an eye opener for the staff as it made them see the benefits of quality Adapted Physical Education. I had advocated relentlessly that these students were children first and very capable of handling new situations. Many of our staff were blown away by the fact that these students could keep a focus, attend to a specific task, and actually perform in front of a live audience with appropriate participation. The parents and families were so happy. This was very a very special event for many because their children had never been involved in a school or community based performance. It was as close to a typical experience as these families had ever experienced. The amount of pride that filled the audience was so amazing and is an experience that many will never forget. The ABA program I joined 4 years ago had been developed by Occupational Therapists and it was more clinical approach than a typical Adapted PE class in nature. I had to advocate for an Adapted PE program that was more appropriate and based on State and National Standards. I worked hard to develop a program plan that would both grab the students attention and impress the ABA program. My answer to this was Big Choice. It was such a simple concept yet it turned out to be powerful. One reason it worked is that it aligned my Adapted Physical Education program to the ABA model of instruction. ABA uses the ACE curriculum which is a discreet trial based instructional format. Instructional attention to behavior comes ahead of academics; the number one focus in the curriculum is that students need to be compliant with teachers requests. I set my lesson plan up so that it flows with smooth transitions from the instant activity to the warm-up, to the activity of focus, to the cool-down. I invented Big Choice to entice the
students to stay on task; Big Choice is my students favorite time where they know that they get to choose their own activity. It usually occurs after the focal activity of the day but it may come after the warm-up if I have a student who is non-compliant with the lesson s activity. When a student is non-compliant, I take that student behind a barrier so they do not have an audience and we perform the skill in which they were noncompliant. While I am doing this with this student, the rest are having fun in Big Choice. This format tends to make students focus on being compliant because if they are complaint they can partake in a highly preferred activity during Big Choice. Another great result from Big Choice is that the students must practice and learn how to be safe in the gym; it provides much needed practice for spacial awareness when the students all choose different activities and are active at the same time as each other. In addition, Big Choice helps to instill a love for movement which is another big goal of mine. It helps the children leave Adapted PE feeling fulfilled because they have had a choice in activities that matter to them. I hope and believe that it empowers them with the will, desire, and need to access more movement throughout their lives. What is your particular expertise in regard to teaching physical education what is the focus of your teaching? I feel that my expertise lays in communicating, collaborating, and facilitating with other service providers and parents so that I am providing a well rounded/whole-child-based program to the students. I feel that in order to provide a quality Adapted Physical Education program, I must provide an environment that is enjoyable and appropriately challenges all of the students regardless of their disabilities or abilities. I want my students and families to embrace physical activity and continue to be active for the rest of their lives. What is your philosophy for physical education what do you believe in? Two very important facts drive my curriculum and my delivery of services in Adapted Physical Education. First of all I feel that Adapted Physical Education is the closest to real world daily experience my students with autism encounter during their school day. It is a perfect environment to focus on the Affective Domain. In their classroom they have a 1:1 Teacher Assistant, a private study carol, and receive 1:1 instruction in a discreet trail manner for most of the day. Their every movement is pre-planned for them and they are assisted in almost every activity by an adult. When they come to Adapted PE it is a time that they may listen to and feel their own inner rhythm. They are moving independently throughout an environment making decisions on their feet as they move that will affect both their well being and the safety of others. This unique environment is such a perfect place to focus on the Affective Domain. Secondly, I want my students to be as healthy as possible and understand their bodies and the mind-body wellness connection. I can achieve this goal by helping them to learn to love movement. But I need to take this one step further and assist the staff and my administrators to understand how movement and physical activity have positive effects on our students.
What does being a physical education Teacher of the Year mean to you? I would love to be the Adapted Physical Education Teacher of the Year because it means that I would be an Ambassador to SHAPE America and I would have an even bigger opportunity to share my passion for best practices in Adapted Physical Education with other dedicated educators throughout the country. It also means that I must thank a long list of people with whom I have collaborated and learned from throughout the years. I would not be in this position if I had not collaborated with other staff members and been involved in NYS AHPERD. What do you do to help other physical education teachers plan and implement exemplary programs? Presenter at numerous conferences on Adapted Physical Education. Collaborate with district APE and PE teachers on best practices on an ongoing basis President and Conference Program Planner for NYSAHPERD Adapted PE and Sport Section Program Planning Committee for NYSAHPHERD Northern Zone Conferences for ten plus years NYSAHPERD Northern Zone Adapted PE representative for ten plus years District Mentor to all new incoming Adapted PE teachers hired in SLL BOCES Member of both SLL BOCES District and Potsdam District committees to represent APE and PE teachers Initiated an Adapted PE APPR focus group when APPR was introduced to New York State educators that joined 3 NYS AHPERD Zones together to work on solutions/answers to the APPR process for Adapted PE Teachers so we could assist our members in the new process Invite new APE teachers from BOCES or Potsdam district to assist me in my NYS AHPERD Conference presentations in order to boost their confidence and hopefully get them started on a future path of NYSAHPERD leadership roles Member of Follow the Leader group of mentors for Future Professionals in NYS AHPERD I am also known as a very upbeat and approachable person, so people feel comfortable asking me questions. I always give program participants my email in my presentations and tell them to contact me with any questions. I have had many people contact me after a presentation. I have actually established some great friendships through this process. In addition to helping other PE and APE teachers, I feel that it is important to advocate for our field and I often advocate with administrators within our SLL BOCES district and our host district of Potsdam Central School..
Any quotes from students about you as an adapted physical education teacher, or the classes taught by you? I have been very active as an exercise instructor in our community throughout the years. I have always advertised that my programs can be modified for any individual and I have developed a following of patrons. I have received many compliments from the participants in my exercise classes throughout the years. I have accommodated for many different needs in the community from rehabbing injured runners and athletes in the pool to providing aquatic exercise programs for people living with chronic pain and illness. It never ceases to amaze me how being physically fit enhances one s daily life. There are too many people who lack the fundamental fitness to lead healthy, happy, and productive lives. I am a firm believer that having a disease or a disability should not make a person a victim. I, myself, have a serious disease called Ulcerative Colitis, that I have had to deal with for many years. I have refused to let it take over my life and have found that maintaining a healthy level physical fitness has greatly helped me, both physically and emotionally. One of my participants in my first class that I taught on Water Exercise for People Living with Chronic Pain and Illness, had Fibromyalgia. After she had been in my class for about one semester she and her husband took their grandchildren on a trip to a water adventure park. Upon return to the class she ran up and hugged me. She explained that it was the best trip she had taken since she had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. She had developed enough significant functional strength that enabled her to climb the ladder of the tall water slide numerous times and slide down with her young grandson. And the best news was she was not sore the next day. I was so happy for her but I made her promise that she would never allow herself to become a victim of her disease again. She has been exercising since then and she now shares the benefits of exercise with others who suffer from chronic illness. But my favorite compliment was one that I actually received from my son, who had been a teacher assistant in our program. All three of our children are special education teachers at this time but they started their careers as Teacher Assistants in the special education program that I teach in. I was teasing my son one day after he had had a tough day with students, and told him that I was very lucky because his students loved me. And he shook his head and responded, Yes they love you but they really truly love what you give them. That was an amazingly special moment, knowing that I am feeding my students the fuel that makes them both happy and healthy. I truly feel that statement sums up my whole experience as an Adapted Physical Education Teacher. List three of your favorite conference session titles that you have presented, with a brief description of each. 1. What Do a Noodle, Good Sports Club, Collaborative Teaming, and Assessment Tools Have in Common? This is a power point program designed for General P.E. and APE Teachers with guidelines on how to identify students for placement in the Least Restrictive Environment and how to best deal with
challenging behaviors, using assessment strategies and accommodations, for students with special needs in physical education. 2. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Tricks and Tools Of The Trade For Adapted Physical Education Teachers- This is a power point based program on APE Best Practices (IEP planning, pro-social skills needed to be safe and successful in PE, use of evaluations and data, and overall good advocacy skills) that can be used for the success of your students and to gain respect of your professional peers. 3. Structuring Lessons For Success in APE - This active participation presentation focuses on how to create a lesson plan that flows by posting Student Learning Objectives to get your Paraprofessionals and students engaged, instant activities to grab the students before they are off-task, visual cues for teaching and developing independence in your students, and how to develop an easy rubric based assessment that adresses both NYS PE Standard 1 and NYS PE Standard 2, using visuals, and finally ending class with a calming effect in order to have the students return to class in a Ready to Learn state of mind. Any additional major teaching awards you have received: SUNY Brockport Graduate Assistantship Grant 1980 NYS AHPERD Northern Zone Amazing Person Award 2009 NYS AHPERD Adapted PE Teacher of the Year Award 2014 NYS AHPERD Adapted PE section Amazing Person Award 2015 SHAPE America Eastern District Adapted PE Teacher of the Year Award 2016